Resident Evil: Song of Prelude
by metallover
Summary: Leon S. Kennedy is sent to a small island off Indonesia to recover data about the T-Virus before it can be sold to terrorists; there he encounters Nero, the BSAA agent sent as his backup. However, something is turning the natives into monsters...


The parking lot is quiet as a shadowy figure walks through it. His hand is curled tightly around the handle of a briefcase; his leather gloves creak as his hand tenses.

His pace quickens as he nears his goal; the air vent to the hospital beneath the parking lot, which is situated on the roof. As he reaches the vent, he lets out a very slight sigh, before setting to work. He reaches into the breast pocket of his suit jacket, withdrawing the key to unlock his briefcase.

Withdrawing a small glass cylinder from the case, he closed it and set it down, grinning wickedly. With a pop and a click, he dropped the cylinder into the vent, and satisfied his work was done, picked up his case and walked back the way he came, relieved things had gone so well.

Flipping open his phone, he softly said into it "Uroboros released successfully. Begin test phase one."

"What's the mission objective?" Special Agent Leon S. Kennedy asked through the microphone in his helmet, to be heard over the roaring of the helicopter.

"Simple," the feminine voice of his supervisor told him. "Retrieve the stolen data; should be no problem for you."

"With no backup?" Leon asked into the headset. "And just my pistol?"

"Relax, Agent Kennedy," his Supervisor assured him. "We have a BSAA agent to back you up. Nero Davidson; one of the BSAA's Oceanic Division's best agents. He'll rendezvous with you en route to your objective. Be aware; he's the one in charge of this operation."

"Acknowledged," Leon said, clicking his headset off. He'd been a member of the Secret Service, carrying out missions with the CIA, FBI, and all sorts of other law enforcement organizations for more than five years; but the thought of working with the Bio-Terrorism Security Assessment Alliance, the BSAA, made him uneasy in a way he hadn't felt since Racoon City.

The pilot of the chopper signalled that they were about to land, and Leon braced himself. About six months ago an American protester had somehow managed to hack the Pentagon's computer system, stealing important, damning documents; the plans and research data on the T-Virus. He had gone to ground on the small Indonesian island that Leon was currently setting down on. _Simple enough_ Leon thought, unbuckling his restraints and exiting the helicopter; except for the fact that all communication to the island, with a population of roughly ten thousand, had gone dark.

Leon noticed that the landing area had been fortified with barriers and fences, and was being manned by a full United Nations task force in the twilight.

"Major Richardson, Australian Fourth Airborne Division," one of the soldiers said in a thick accent, saluting Leon. "We were informed of your arrival during our mission briefing, and you will have our full cooperation, sir."

Leon nodded. "Why the heightened security, Major?"

The Major looked tiredly at where his men were patrolling around the perimeter. "The local inhabitants appear to have gone mad, sir. As per instructions we received during the briefing we have avoided physical contact of any sort; especially bites or clawings. However, I felt it prudent to focus the majority of our strength on holding our way off this god forsaken island."

"Good thinking, Major," Leon said, surveying the landing area. A few pre-fab buildings had been set up to the South of the actual landing pad; Leon assumed these were being used for an infirmary or bunking area, something inconsequential like that. His heart had dropped a little when the Major had told him _the local inhabitants appear to have gone mad_, but Leon assumed it couldn't be helped.

"Fucking zombies is what it is," somebody said from behind Leon.

Leon turned to take in the newcomer; obviously Agent Nero, judging by the fact he was the only one wearing civilian clothes in the base besides Leon himself, who was wearing a plain black shirt and plain blue jeans, with his favourite brown leather jacket thrown over top. Nero was wearing black army boots with plain blue jeans, and a dark green shirt, emblazoned with the red BSAA Oceanic logo on each arm over a black shirt with the words 'Park-Way-Drive' printed on it in wide, flowing white and blue letters. Beads of sweat rolled down his bald head, and his goatee was in dire need of a trimming.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer," Nero said, coming up to the other two. Up close, he wasn't very tall; only about five-foot-five. "I'm going to need a bigger gun."

Leon scoffed. "Agent Davidson, I assume?"

"Just Nero," he answered, before turning again to Major Richardson. "El comprehende? Bigger gun? Yes?"

A vein in the major's neck visibly twitched at Davidson's insolence, and through gritted teeth he said "Of course, _sir_. What did you have in mind, _sir_?"

"Shotgun? AK? I'll take a bloody bazooka if you have one," Davidson said to the taller man.

"The armoury is the far pre-fab building, _sir_. Help yourself."

Davidson shrugged, walking off to the indicated building. "Famous last words!" he called over his shoulder.

"I'm going to kill that man if the locals don't," Major Richardson muttered.

"Seems pleasant," Leon joked.

From where they were standing, almost twenty metres away, they could still hear Nero's exclamation of "Fuck yes! Jackpot!" when he walked into the armoury.

Major Richardson shook his head. "Idiot. Maybe you had better get something bigger, too, sir. Part of our briefing was intel about what happened in Racoon City five years ago. This seems pretty similar, even down to the locals' resilience to all but head-shots."

Leon let out a slow curse. Ever since the Umbrella Corporation had gone bankrupt the UN and the US in particular had been worried about their biological weapons getting out and into the hands of terrorists. During Racoon City, when it had been him and Clair Redfield alone against hordes of the undead he had imagined a world where the living dead ruled, and people hid in deserts and roamed the land, living off scraps and just trying to survive. Fortunately, the American government's 'Rain of Fire' policy seemed to avert the disaster in Leon's over-active imagination.

However, it looked like now that somehow terrorists had gotten hold of the T-Virus, or at least something very similar.

With a nod to the Major, Leon walked over to the armoury building. Inside were racks with various kinds of rifles on them, and cases with everything from ammo to RPGs. Nero, of course, was trying to figure out how to carry the wild assortment of weapons.

"You know if you're too slow they'll just drag you down," Leon said to him, reaching for a MP5, inspecting it and slinging it over his shoulder. "Just the ammo for that many guns would weigh as much as three of these."

Nero grinned. "Boy scout motto, mate. Be prepared."

Leon shook his head. "Take the shotgun. Leave the rest."

"Party-pooper," Nero said, retrieving the shotgun; a semi-automatic military grade model, and putting the three rifles, the sub-machinegun and the RPG he had been holding back into their respective storage areas.

Nero had shed his green shirt, and had put a bandolier with shells on it over his black shirt. From the look of him, Leon had to admit; at least he was in shape. A lot of the BSAA agents he had met before were obviously from desk-job backgrounds. This guy seemed to be almost military himself. He stripped and checked the shotgun with mechanical precision, grunted in satisfaction, and reassembled it, put his shirt on over his shoulder-holster and bandolier of shells, and stuffed his pockets full of spare shells.

"Just in case," he said, noticing Leon's look.

"You know what I like about you Americans?" he asked Leon, buckling a second weapon belt onto his waist, this one holding a considerably larger pistol than the one in his shoulder holster. "You like guns. Take this Desert Eagle for instance; fully automatic pistol, stopping power of a two-hundred kilo rugby forward, and I can't buy one privately because they make the Australian government nervous."

Leon shrugged, and loaded ammo for his rifle and pistol into the small bag on his shoulder and into the spots in his belt. "Why not just claim you want it for your BSAA work?"

Nero scoffed as he checked the sight on his smaller berretta nine millimetre pistol. "Are you kidding? My supervisors would _never _condone me having a piece of hardware like this bad-boy. I think it might just have to go 'missing' when this is all over; I've grown rather fond of it."

Leon looked up from checking the sights on his own pistol. "How exactly did you get into the BSAA again?"

"Just remember, Leon," Nero said, heading to the door. "It 'aint who ya know; it's who ya blow. I'll try and scab us a jeep or something to get to the objective with. Meet me by the gates in ten."

With that, he stepped out into the night, leaving a very confused and irritated Leon standing alone in the armoury.

Twenty minutes later, Leon was standing at the gate that the Australian forces had constructed at the entrance to the entrance, still waiting for Nero.

The city outside the gate, if one could call the dirt roads and shacks that, had been eerily silent. This, to Leon, was a bad sign. Not even one of the soldiers would talk about what had been going on outside their perimeter; a lot looked nervous and twitchy at the prospect of the locals showing up. It wouldn't have been the mission; this was a UN sanctioned mission: the data _had to be_ retrieved.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Nero said, coming out of nowhere. "But they wouldn't give me a tank. I got us a hummer."

Behind him, coming out of one of the Australian's carrier helicopters was a military grade hummer, complete with a machine gun port on the roof.

"You ride shotgun," Nero said, eying the turret. "That's _my_ seat."

Leon shrugged. If the psychopath wanted the turret, he could have it.

The hummer pulled up, and Leon was surprised to see Major Davidson driving, with two other soldiers in the back.

"Am I to assume you and your men will be accompanying us to our destination, major?"

The Major nodded. "I asked for volunteers for a dangerous mission, and I'd never order my boys to do something I wouldn't do myself. Hop in, sir, and let's get this shit over with."

The dirt road didn't make for an easy drive; neither did the narrow, winding streets. A straight line to the objective would have been a damn sight easier, but they wouldn't let Nero rappel from helicopters anymore.

He stood, leaning with the small of his back against the padded edge of the turret hatch, arms crossed, eyes covered by a pair of big black aviator sun-glasses, a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, the smoke being whisked away from the truck by Richardson's driving pace. There was a time he hadn't smoked, but then again there was a time he hadn't been Nero Davidson either; Racoon City had changed many things.

As Nero thought of better times he casually scoped out the abandoned village; no signs of life, but to him it looked like everyone had left in a hurry. Once or twice he saw a mangy dog sniffing around the waste, but Richardson drove too fast for him to get a good look.

Nero was jolted out of his reverie by the hummer stopping abruptly. Looking past his turret, Nero could see that there was a huge roadblock fashioned out of cars and debris, about two metres high.

"You gotta be kidding me," Nero muttered, stubbing out his cigarette on the roof of the hummer. "Push through it!" he called to Richardson.

"It's too deep," Davidson replied. "Looks like we're hoofing it."

Nero cursed. Those were the last words he wanted to hear. Shucking his shotguns strap higher, he climbed out of the turret hatch and jumped down to the side of the vehicle. The Major and his two goons had already set up a perimeter while Leon looked at the GPS.

"It's still four kilometres past this barricade," he said, not looking up. "It looks stable enough to climb over."

Nero chuckled and walked to the barricade, giving it a good kick. When it didn't come crashing down Nero assumed it was safe, ad quickly scampered up to the top. "Leon, get your ass up here."

Leon climbed the barricade; slightly put out that Nero didn't offer him a hand, before he saw what was on the other side of the barricade.

"Bodies," Nero muttered. About ten metres from the barricade was piled bodies; men, women and children, all inhabitants of the island. "Are they zombies?"

Leon shook his head. Each body had a single gunshot wound to the back of the head, at least those he could see did. Leon pointed this fact out to Nero, who nodded, before turning back to the soldiers.

"Major, detail one of your men to watch the car; I want you and the other guy to come with us. That's a request, though, not an order."

Nero sat down on the top of the barricade facing the soldiers, and lit another cigarette. "I won't order you to follow us through this."

"With all due respect, sir," Richardson said to Nero, "The sooner you get your shit, the sooner we can get the hell out of here."

Before Nero could answer, a shriek rent the quiet night like a knife.

"Shit," Leon cursed. "Major, choose your man and let's go!"

The Major nodded, ordering one of the others, Private Bessant, to stay with the Hummer. He didn't look too thrilled about being left alone, but saluted and climbed up into the turret all the same.

"We'll check in every half-hour via radio," Leon told the Private as they took their gear from the back of the truck. "If something happens and we need backup, we'll need to relay it through you, so stay frosty."

Bessant saluted again, before turning in the turret to scope the area. The other soldier besides the Major was another private; Private Aida. The man was small, almost as short as Nero and skinny too, but he held his gun and showed some balls, which was all Nero cared about.

"Ready when you are," Nero said to Leon, taking one last drag of his cigarette before dropping it and crushing it beneath his heel.

"Let's go," Leon said, and climbed the barricade.

On the other side, the four began picking their way through the bodies. Fortunately, they were relatively fresh, and hadn't begun to decay, so the only smell that they had to contend with was the blood and the lingering scent of terror.

Still there was no sign of anything out in the twilight, and Nero was beginning to get antsy. He had his Desert Eagle braced and ready to fire, and everywhere he looked was through the sights of the gun.

Leon was holding his pistol, too, but it was in a much more relaxed posture, and he was pointing it at the sky. Richardson and Aida both had their big-ass rifles at the ready.

_Which way? _Nero asked Leon through hand gestures.

_This way_ Leon signed back. _Follow me._

The others fell in behind Leon, who led them down the street.

"I don't like this," Richardson said almost under his breath. "It's too quiet."

Nero dropped his aim and stopped.

"You idiot," he whispered back to Richardson. "Don't you watch horror movies? How are the zombies supposed to resist an entry line like that?"

"This isn't a fucking movie, _sir_, so shut up and keep going, _sir_," Richardson whispered angrily to Nero, getting in the shorter man's face.

"Will you two focus?" Leon said from a few metres up the street with Aida. "Move it."

Nero grinned, flipped Leon the bird, and hurried to catch up. Richardson, to his credit, only glowered at the shorter man for a few seconds before hurrying to catch up.

"Act your age," Leon whispered to Nero in passing, earning a loud raspberry from the other man.

Richardson yelped from behind the other three, before shouting "What the – get the fuck off of me!"

One of the natives had snuck up behind him while he and Nero were arguing, and now held him pinned by the neck from behind with an old shovel. Aida instantly dropped to one knee, bringing his rifle up, but didn't let off a shot for fear of hitting the Major. Nero on the other hand, charged, and swung a heavy backhand blow that hammered the native in the face, knocking it off the Major. To Nero's chagrin, it got right back up, barely a show of zombification. The native was a woman, of middle years, with blood running out of her eyes and mouth, and sickly black blotches on her skin. But for all of this, she snarled instead of moaning like a normal zombie; and worst of all her movements seemed focussed, like she was still in control.

"Get down!" Leon shouted at her.

"Get down or I put you down," Nero said to her, doing a very bad impersonation of an action star, pointing his pistol with one hand and half dragging the still choking Major behind him.

"I said _down_," Leon repeated, firing a warning shot past her head.

The native snarled again, and leapt for Leon. A hail of bullets from Leon, Nero and Aida brought her down hard, blood splattering on impact.

"Hostile neutralized," Aida said in a soft voice, before standing and going to the Major's side.

Nero holstered his pistol with a little too much force. "Stupid bitch. Why'd she keep coming?"

Leon shrugged. "I don't know. She's obviously sick, but it's not the T-Virus."

Then, to Nero's horror, the native woman gasped, sat up, garbled something in her own language, and stood shakily, before taking a few steps towards Leon and Nero.

"Fuck. You," Nero snarled, pulling his pistol out and firing three shots into the native's forehead. "Now she's not getting back up."

Leon shook his head, not in disapproval, but in frustration. What were they dealing with now?

"Uh, sirs," Aida said in his soft voice shakily. "I think we have an issue."

Following his line of sight, they saw five, six, seven more natives coming out of buildings, out from between them... And they all looked the same as the woman had.

"Shit," Nero breathed, lengthening the curse. "What now?"

"Take them out!" Richardson shouted, bringing his rifle up and opening fire. Aida needed no more invitation, and he opened fire too. Nero spun to look at Leon, who nodded and opened fire. Nero switched his Desert Eagle to auto, and began shooting. Aida and Leon were good shots, and Nero managed to take a few heads off, but Richardson was almost useless.

"Aim for the heads!" Nero said after Richardson emptied yet another clip into another ineffectual torso-shooting.

"Fuck you!" Richardson growled, not even pretending to show respect for the fact that Nero was in charge.

Nero _tsked_ before returning to shooting.

"There's too many of them!" Aida shouted shrilly.

"Back up, ordered retreat!" Nero yelled over the gunfire. "That means you, Major!"

The Major showed no inclination of ceasing his wasting of ammunition, so Nero brought the butt of his pistol down on the back of the Major's helmet; not hard, just enough to get the man's attention. "I ordered a retreat, Major!"

The Major looked almost like he was about to shoot Nero, before grunting an acknowledgment, and moving back with Nero to form a line with the others.

The four moved backwards, Nero, Leon and Richardson shooting any natives that came close to them, while Aida led the way making sure it was clear.

"Sirs!" He called. "Sewer grates!"

"Good!" Nero called. "Get them open!"

The grates were an opening at the base of a tight staircase; obviously an access hatch to the island's flood canals or sewer system; either way, Nero figured, it was their way off the streets.

After some grunting Aida called that the grates were open, and they could proceed. Leon and Aida dropped through, and just as Nero was about to follow them Richardson yelped in pain again. Turning, Nero saw that the Major had just thrown one of the natives off his shoulder, which was now bleeding through a ragged tear in the uniform.

"Fucking hell," Richardson swore, looking down at the bite.

Before the native could return to finish the Major Nero dropped him with a shot to the head.

"Are you coming?" he called up to the Major.

"I've been bitten," the Major called back, shooting again at the encroaching natives. "You guys go ahead, I'll slow them down."

Nero nodded, lit a cigarette and offered it to the Major. For a second he looked at the smoke confusedly, then grinned and accepted it.

"Happy hunting, Major," Nero called to him while he swung the grates closed, latching them and smashing the lock for good measure.

Richardson laughed, flipped Nero off and moved out of sight. Nero could hear him shouting abuse at the natives over the gunshots.

As Nero caught up with Leon and Aida further up th tunnel, they both looked back questioningly at him.

"Where's the Major?" Aida asked.

"He was bitten, and chose to hold them off."

Aida went white. With shaking hands he reached up, unbuckled his helmet, and pulled it off, letting a long black ponytail slide free. Now that Nero could see Aida's face better, he didn't really look much like a man at all. In fact, he looked more like...

"Are you a woman?" Nero asked without tact, earning a swift rifle-butt in his ribs. "I'll take that as a yes."

"My name is Yua Aida," she said forcefully. "And I may be a woman, but I could still kick your ass."

Whirling on Leon she added "Yours too."

"I don't doubt it," Leon said. "I've met a lot of girls like that. But we have a mission to complete."

Aida nodded, and Nero grunted an affirmative from where he was still doubled over.

The tunnel was the first defensible point they could find, and the natives seemed to have been satisfied with killing Major Richardson, so after about a hundred metres when a dry patch presented itself the trio used it to regroup.

Aida sat with her back to the tunnel wall, facing Nero and Leon, checking her rifle, her clips, basically anything that would take her mind off what had happened to her CO. Leon sat cross-legged a little away from the wall in quiet contemplation, occasionally glancing up and down the tunnel. Nero almost lounged against the tunnel wall, legs stretched out, smoking.

With a grunt Aida rose, and began unclipping her equipment pouches and her vest.

"Don't get any ideas," she said, noticing Nero had perked up and was staring. "I'm just taking this stupid vest off. It didn't help the Major, and probably won't help me, either."

"An apt assumption," Nero muttered, exhaling another lung-full of smoke.

Aida removed her combat vest and her khaki jacket, and threw them to the side. She buckled her utility belt on around her waist, and a harness to carry other weapons with various pouches on the front over her khaki shirt.

"That's better," she sighed, stretching her arms and positioning the straps higher on her shoulders.

"I'll say," Nero muttered, earning a swift kick in the ribs from Aida. "Ouch, damn it woman! Take the compliment!"

"Enough," Leon said dangerously. "We're in a life and death situation here, and you, Nero, can't stop flirting or dropping movie quotes; while you, Private Aida, can't refrain from hurting one of the only two people who are going to be watching your back. Get your heads in the game."

Aida and Nero both looked at Leon guiltily. Aida was first to recover, snapping to attention, and saying "Sir, sorry sir. It won't happen again."

Nero chuckled, stubbing out his half-smoked cigarette. "Sure it will. I'm a pig and an ass-hole, and you have absolutely perfect boobs. But blondie's right; time to get real."

Aida laughed, too, and kicked Nero again, but much softer, almost playfully. Leon shook his head, trying to hide his grin. For all his faults, Nero was a nice enough guy, and Leon decided he could trust him to watch their backs.

Nero stuck his head out just enough to see around the corner, whispering back to the others "Okay, its all clear."

Leon ducked around past Nero, sighting down his pistol, followed by Aida, covering his flank with her heavier rifle. Nero followed, bringing up the rear. The three moved along the side of the building they had come up from beneath, before stopping at the corner so that Leon could consult his GPS.

"We're in luck," he told them. "We headed in the right direction. The objective is only three blocks ahead of us."

"Thank god for small favours," Nero muttered sarcastically, earning an elbow-nudge from Aida.

Leon motioned for the two to follow him, but as soon as they stepped into the street they heard an engine and yelling start in Indonesian.

"Back!" Leon whispered, backpedalling as fast as he could, training his pistol up the street.

The three ducked back into the shadows as an old, decrepit truck, its rear tray filled to bursting with infected locals, careen around the corner.

"That is totally not something I've ever seen a zombie do before," Nero muttered, for once met by agreement from Leon and Aida.

"What the fuck are they?" Aida asked quietly.

"It can't be the T-Virus," Leon said as the truck rumbled by. "They don't seem to be dead. But they're definitely not right."

Aida and Nero both nodded their assent, and as soon as the sound of the truck's engine rumbled into the distance the three darted across the street, and into the shadows of the next alley. The streets were slightly nicer this close to the city centre; the streets were paved, for one thing. The buildings were also built to last, unlike the shacks they had passed on their way in; of course, there was no power, so it was almost pitch black outside.

"Can't see a frigging thing," Nero muttered. "Can someone light a match or something?"

"Shut up, Nero," Leon deadpanned back. "If they're not zombies, the light will definitely attract them.

"If they're not zombies, what are they then?" Nero asked petulantly.

"Enemies," Aida spoke up.

Nero found it hard to fight with that logic.

As they neared the next street the three could hear voices raised in Indonesian. They froze, and after a few seconds the voices grew distant.

"They're definitely not zombies," Nero pointed out in a low voice. "Zombies wouldn't be looking for us."

"You think they're actually trying to _find_ us?" Aida squeaked.

Leon thought for a moment. "They have to be infected with something; even a normal human wouldn't perpetrate this kind of homicidal rage; and I doubt the whole town has gone mad."

"Agreed," Nero said. "That doesn't change our mission though. We still need to get that data before someone else gets their hands on it and causes another Racoon City."

Leon stared at Nero in disbelief as Aida asked "How would the T-Virus set off a chain reaction in a power plant?"

Nero smirked. "You'd be surprised."

Without another word Nero raced across the open street, into the next alley, and was motioning for the others to follow.

Leon and Aida followed Nero, and after racing into a small building without incident, Nero let out a sigh.

"Fuck yes, _finally_."

Aida looked around the small, unassuming office space; desks, computers, chairs, nothing too out of the ordinary. A large flag depicting the current dictator's regime hung on one wall, flapping slightly in the breeze that had been let in. The room wasn't even a mess.

Leon looked as relieved as Nero, rushing to the computer in the back corner.

"It's here," Leon said, holding up an old flash drive.

Nero sagged in relief.

"Bessant, its Nero, come in," Nero said into the radio he'd had hanging off his belt all night.

After a few seconds Bessant's voice could be heard over the radio. "Good to hear from you, Sir; thought you might have forgotten about little-old-me, over."

Aida chuckled slightly before sobering. That had been one of the Major's favourite jokes.

"Listen, Bessant, we got what we came for. We'll probably be coming in hot; the city's crawling with... Well, not zombies, but too fucking close for my liking. Over."

"Copy that, sir," Bessant told them, sounding almost eager. "I'll keep the meter running, over and out."

Nero looked back to Leon. "So how do we get back? Same way we came in?"

Leon shook his head. "If these guys think, then that route is already cut off to us. Our best bet is to circle the opposite way through the city and take the long way through the feilds we saw on the way through the slums."

Nero nodded. Before he could make the witty remark he'd been about to, the ground shook slightly. As the three looked at each other, the ground shook again.

Leon paled slightly. "Footfalls."

Nero nodded, moving silently towards the window. As he looked out the window through separated blinds his jaw dropped.

"Uh guys," he said nervously. "We've got a big-ugly inbound; very big and very ugly."

Aida took a look out of the window next to it. Stomping up the street was what could only be a genetic mutation; ten feet tall, as thick as their hummer and tombstone grey all over. The part that terrified Aida the most, though, was it still looked very human, still in proportion; that, and it seemed to know exactly which building they were hiding in.

"Now would be a very good time to leave," Leon said from near the door they'd come in.

As the three of them piled out into the street and began running as fast as they could in the direction of the rice fields they heard an bone-rattling roar, followed by the sound of _something_ breaking through a solid brick wall.

"Of course, this couldn't just be easy," Nero muttered in-between gasps as they were running.

They'd been running for almost half an hour now; quickly dispatching any natives that came anywhere near them, and also occasionally turning to pop off a few more shots at their pursuer; the monstrous native man that was chasing them; however no matter what they did it didn't even slow him down. Leon had taken out one of its eyes, which hadn't had more effect than pissing it off, and Nero and Aida had managed to take out one of its knees, but again it didn't even slow down.

Aida could hear it now, breathing heavily, each second stomp accompanied by the sound of crunching, grinding bones. Despite herself, she cringed.

"He just won't let up, will he?" Nero panted, loading his last clip into his berretta. His desert eagle had long since gone dry, and his bandolier flapped against his chest, completely empty.

"Just shoot the fucking thing with your shotgun!" Aida yelled at Nero, ejecting her last clip out of her M-16, throwing it at an encroaching native, and drawing her berretta as she watched the native go down under the heavy rifle.

"Nice throw," Leon said, jumping down into the rice fields they had been skirting. "Come on, maybe the water will slow him down."

Without hesitating Nero and Aida followed Leon, the trio wading as fast as they could. After fifty metres or so they heard the monstrous native bellow in rage and frustration.

Nero stopped and turned. "He's afraid of water; go figure."

"So why are we stopping?" Leon asked. "Let's put some distance between us."

Nero and Aida agreed, and the three began slogging their way in the direction of where Bessant was waiting.

After a few minutes the angry roaring from the big native stopped, and silence descended.

"How much further?" Aida asked, clearly out of breath.

Leon consulted his GPS. "Not long now. Another kilometre, then we just backtrack to where Bessant is waiting with the car."

Aida nodded, too tired to give any other answer.

"Good," Nero said, trying to lift the mood. "I wrinkle up like a prune; this water's killing me."

Aida scoffed a little at Nero's bad attempt at humour. She was really exhausted; she didn't even have the energy to tell Nero to shut up.

After a while they could hear the sounds of gunfire. Nero looked at Leon, who nodded, and began moving faster than the other two. Aida moved to keep up, but a restraining hand on her arm kept her at her previous pace.

"He's just going ahead to scout," Nero explained. "Besides, if you're dead on your feet when we get there, you'll be useless to everyone."

Aida nodded, grateful to at least not have to quicken her pace. After a few more sloshing steps, Nero drew out his berretta and handed it to Aida, butt first.

"You may need this," he told her. "It's still got one full clip in it."

"Thanks. What about you," Aida asked, racking the slide on the small gun.

Nero gestured over his shoulder to the butt of the shotgun. "I was saving those last few shots for a reason. Besides, the shells I stuffed in my pockets should be... mostly dry."

Aida couldn't help but grin. For the first time all night she felt some optimism that they'd be able to get out of the hot-zone alive, get back to Australia alright and uninfected, and put this whole nasty business behind them. As they reached the end of the field Nero let out a soft _whoop_ of excitement. The gunshots had stopped as well, which they took as a good sign.

Until a dark shape came sailing through the air at them, eventually resolving itself as Leon.

Leon landed in the thigh-deep water, and emerged coughing and spluttering a moment later.

"I don't get paid enough for this shit," He coughed, spitting out the dirty water.

"Big ugly beat us here, didn't he?" Nero asked, drawing the shotgun and pumping it once.

Before Leon could answer, another body flew through the air at them, landing with a splash and floating face-up; completely still.

"Oh my god," Aida breathed in horror. "Andy, no."

Bessant stared up at them in mute shock, his neck twisted at an odd angle, his left arm gone at the shoulder.

"This thing is going to fucking _die_," Nero snarled, charging towards dry land.

Leon grunted in agreement, following the other man. Aida gave one last look to her dead friend, offered him a quick prayer, and followed the others, berretta held firmly in hand.

Nero had spotted the 'Big Ugly', and was calmly walking towards it; well aware of the range limitations of his shotgun.

The big native stood near the car, almost enthralled by it, obviously confused to it's purpose.

"Come on you son-of-a-bitch," Nero called. "Come get some."

Leon bent to retrieve Bessant's fallen rifle, and was relieved to find it with a full clip.

Without hesitation he began to shoot the big ugly while Nero moved into position.

Aida circled around the standoff, hoping that if they distracted it long enough that she could get to the car, start it and they could all get back to the relative safety of the base; or at least within range of the rest of her platoon's guns.

Nero was still shouting obscenities at the monstrous native when it gave an angry roar and charged. Leon opened fire at once; a line of red weals opening up along its torso while Nero leapt out of the way at the last second. Coming up on one knee he shot the native from behind at close range, severing its right arm at the elbow.

"Fuck yeah!" Nero cried, pumping another shotgun shell into the chamber as the monster stumbled a few more steps forward, before looking at the stump of its arm in confusion.

"I am gonna fuck you up!" Nero snarled, shooting it in the back of the head.

Nero repeatedly shot the monster in the back of the head until his shotgun clicked dry.

The monstrous native gave an almost confused groan, the pain finally reaching its brain. With a thud that shook the tin roofs on the nearby huts, it fell to one knee.

Nero turned as the hummer drew up behind him, Aida at the wheel and Leon in the passenger seat.

"Didn't you call shotgun on the turret?" Leon asked sarcastically.

Nero grinned and climbed in, just as the monstrous native lurched back to its feet.

Aida gunned the engine, taking off like a rocket, and shouted back to Nero "If you had a brain behind that beard you would have done the smart thing and taken its legs off!"

Nero laughed, letting loose a hail of high-calibre, armour piercing rounds from the turret, stitching large, gaping wounds into the monster's hide.

"Shut up and drive, woman."

Leon snickered, earning him a dirty look from Aida.

"What?" Leon asked, shrugging.

Aida sighed and shook her head, concentrating on driving.

"Don't look now," Nero called from the turret hatch, "But this ass-hole _really _doesn't know when to quit!"

To punctuate his statement Aida cringed as the monstrous native roared its outrage at being denied its prize, followed in quick succession by Nero opening up with the turret again.

"Alpha base, alpha base, this is agent Kennedy, come in Alpha base," Leon was saying into the radio. "Lock and load boys, we're coming in hot."

There was an acknowledgment over the radio, and Leon set it back onto the dash.

The hummer jolted, and Leon almost smashed his head into the dashboard.

"Drive faster, damn-it!" Nero yelled. "He just kicked us!"

Aida cursed softly, putting her foot further down on the accelerator. She was already pushing the hummer around the winding streets, and wasn't at all confident in her driving in the first place.

"This thing's a military car, right?" Leon asked as the car jolted with another kick. "Drive through the huts."

Aida thought for a second. "Nero, duck!"

Nero crouched into the cab just as Aida careened through one of the shanty huts, causing Nero to bounce and smash his head on the rim of the turret and fall to the floor in the back of the cab.

Cursing, he sat up. "Where the hell did you learn how to drive?"

"Shut it, cock boy!" she yelled back. "Hold on!" she added as they burst through another hut.

Bits of cheap timber and scrap corrugated iron flew by as the hummer flew through another block of huts.

"We're almost there," Leon pointed out. "It's a straight shot to the base."

Nero popped up through the turret, and recommenced shooting at the native. "Thank you for stating the obvious."

The gate to the base loomed in the night, open and inviting. The rest of Aida's platoon had made barricades out of the surrounding huts and the other hummers, and now stood ready to face the threat of the charging monstrosity.

"Hold on!" Aida called, sliding through the gates and around the barricades, out of her platoon's line of fire.

Almost at once the rest of the platoon opened fire, and within seconds had turned the monster into not much more than a pile of meat and bone.

Once the guns fell silent the sounds of enraged yelling and more of the roaring that Aida had come to realize heralded the monstrous natives could be heard, following the wake of their hummer.

"People!" Nero called from the turret hatch. "As of right fucking now the UN is initiating a scorched earth policy! Get your asses to the choppers; ditch the hardware! Move!"

The soldiers all ran to the waiting choppers, Aida, Leon and Nero included. Once on board they finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"I don't get paid enough for this shit," Nero sighed, lighting his last cigarette and sitting down on one of the benches lining the chopper.

"That makes two of us," Aida sighed, sitting down next to Nero.

The chopper shuddered as it unleashed its payload of incendiary missiles on the compound. The other three choppers would be levelling the city; burning away any threat of the strange new virus spreading.

"On the ground," Leon began, sitting down on the other side of Nero. "You mentioned the outbreak at Racoon City. How did you know about it? That was a huge cover-up."

Nero shrugged. "You're not the only one that walked away from that nightmare."

"What are you two on about?" Aida asked, leaning back.

"It's a long story," Leon told her.

"Perhaps we can discuss it over breakfast?" Nero asked Aida, the subtext to his question showing clear on his face.

"I'd prefer to starve," Aida said, shoving Nero lightly in the head, smiling.

Nero smiled too, happy to have survived another mission; and reaching down to his hip, he smiled wider at the bulk of his new toy, the desert eagle.


End file.
